Personality Traits and Childhood Environments of Eminent Essayists

The goal of the research was to define conditions of excellence by an historical analysis of the psychological traits and childhood environments of eminent essayists of history. A sample of 42 foremost essayists, historians, and critics was used. The sample was derived from earlier work on eminence by Cattell (1903) and Terman (1925). Encyclopaedia Britannicabiogr phers and other researchers rated a list of traits and conditions concerning cognitive, affective, familiar, and educa-tional aspect of the sample. The results of Chi-square tests of significance focus on the degree of persistence of the traits and conditions and suggest that while intel-ligence is a component of eminence, environmental influences are substantial. Familial, school, and socia